Data Sovereignty vs. Digital Hesitation: Why Germany Must Catch Up on Cloud

Germany discusses data sovereignty but remains technologically dependent. How this relates to our culture and what needs to change to achieve digital independence.

Between Fear, Ambition, and Ambivalence

Germany—the land of poets and thinkers. The place where the foundations for modern technology, computer science, and automation were once laid. And yet, when it comes to digital infrastructures, especially cloud services, we almost exclusively look towards the USA. Amazon, Microsoft, Google—the heavyweights are all elsewhere. And what do we have? A few local data centers, niche IT service providers, and a massive dose of technological dependency.

The CLOUD Act as a Monument of Foreign Control

The US CLOUD Act is more than just a legal detail in this discussion. It symbolizes the loss of control that Germany and Europe have suffered in the digital world. It shows how state laws from third countries have a direct impact on our data, our companies, and our digital self-determination—even when the servers are physically located in Frankfurt.

But why is this even possible? Why is there no European alternative that is economically, technologically, and regulatorily strong enough to stand up to the US hyperscalers?

Germany’s Digital Dilemma: Systemic Causes Instead of Coincidence

A look at the causes reveals a complex problem—cultural, economic, political:

1. Fear of Risk Instead of Lust for Innovation

Where “Move fast and break things” becomes the maxim in the USA, “What if it goes wrong?” rules here. Instead of agile product development, we often experience paralyzing compliance processes, detail-oriented data protection discussions—and a general reluctance towards disruptive thinking.

2. Technology as an Administrative Topic

Digital infrastructure is often managed, not shaped, in Germany. IT is too often a top priority on paper, but in practice, an unloved department caught between budget limits and responsibility issues.

3. Focus on Mechanical Engineering Instead of Software Market

Our industrial DNA lies in plant engineering, not in the cloud ecosystem. While SAP stands out in shaping the global software market, the rest of the IT industry remains medium-sized, fragmented, and often lacks scalability. The ambition to build global platforms is structurally absent.

4. Data Sovereignty as a Rhetorical Fig Leaf

Whether Gaia-X, Sovereign Cloud initiatives, or national funding programs—much remains at the concept stage or gets lost in political symbolism instead of resulting in marketable, interoperable solutions. The vision is there, but the entrepreneurial bite is often missing.

How Do We Get Out of This?

1. Digital Infrastructure as a Strategic Duty

Cloud capacities, sovereign platforms, and open standards should be on par with highways and power grids. Not as an option—but as a prerequisite for competitiveness and digital independence.

2. Promotion with Ambition

Government funding should not only “enable” innovation but also clearly define what is meant by digital sovereignty: operator control, open source, legal independence—and scalability.

3. Strengthen Open Technologies

Building European cloud infrastructures can only succeed based on open standards, federated architectures, and a shared vision. Projects like Sovereign Cloud Stack or Gaia-X must not be reinvented but finally completed and consistently industrialized.

4. Encourage Entrepreneurship with Courage

We need a culture where digital founders not only develop new apps but want to build critical infrastructures. This requires capital, trust—and less regulatory nitpicking.

When Will Germany Finally Start Treating Its Data Sovereignly?

The question is no longer whether the CLOUD Act poses a risk. But why we still have to accept it. When will Germany decide not only to talk about digital sovereignty but also to implement it? With its own platforms, its own standards—and a clear commitment to digital independence?

It’s time to move from the land of thinkers to the land of digital decision-makers.